Chapter 87: Man of Devilish Charm (2)

Four days had passed since his flashy debut in the upper district. Lee Taebaek had holed up in the Silver Nose Bar.

This was because the City Government was undoubtedly scouring the city for him, flames practically shooting from their eyes.

He had slaughtered their ninja scouts. Now it was time for the main force to step in.

NAPD.

They might have earned a reputation for incompetence after letting him slip away before, but they were still the City Government’s regular army. Their armament was top-notch, to say the least.

Unlike those ninjas obsessed with swords and shuriken.

These guys would just unload with bullets first and ask questions never.

No matter that Lee Taebaek wielded a Para Blade and had mastered ice magic—even overwhelming firepower would turn him into Swiss cheese in an instant.

In a world where superhumans ran rampant, the power of heavy weaponry remained undiminished.

Hiding like a criminal isn’t my style.

Part of him wanted to go on a rampage, but he could already picture Kang Hyeonseong clutching his neck and collapsing.

The Commander-in-Chief had stepped in herself, instructing him to lay low this time. The fact that her helmet’s face screen had displayed nothing but static was quite the punchline.

– For now, just… wait for the right moment.

The entire Resistance was counting on him.

– I’ll send over another elixir.

– Cool.

So Lee Taebaek decided to hunker down until the NAPD tired themselves out.

“Did I go a bit overboard?”

He had a place to stay, and the landlady provided meals. It was perfect for turning into a full-fledged hikikomori. All he had to ignore were the occasional guilty stares from the house owner pricking his conscience…

The moment he returned to the Silver Nose Bar, he had asked Goeun why she had introduced him to a broker.

Her vague reply—”That got sorted out with this job”—had left him uneasy.

What was she planning to entrust to me?

She was a woman full of secrets, that much was clear.

Aside from being a mage from the Kergel Magic Tower, he knew next to nothing about her. Other than her fervent love of nicotine, anyway.

Anyway.

These precarious days masquerading as peaceful dragged on. He focused on recovery by sleeping in as much as possible.

Or he tried to.

“Creator!”

His new roommate wouldn’t let him.

“Play with me! Play with me!”

Jasbi drummed on the bulging blanket with both fists like it was a drum set. She threw a tantrum.

It was a rhythm that shattered his attempt to cut himself off from the world. Unable to take it anymore, Lee Taebaek flung the blanket open.

Jasbi, caught off-balance, wobbled like a roly-poly toy but quickly regained her center of gravity. She had weights built into her body for that. These little inhuman moments popped up now and then.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“Go play outside.”

“You’re the one who said I can’t go out.”

“Play outside the room, then.”

Even cold-shouldering her didn’t work. She responded with adorable sass, her face set in a deliberate attempt to disarm him.

“But…! Outside the blanket is dangerous!”

“Are you a kid or what? Quit whining.”

Scolding didn’t faze her.

“I’m only two days old! In human terms, I’m a newborn!”

“Then sleep like a newborn.”

Sneering at her fell flat.

“Newborns cry too!”

“Fuck… If newborns were as logically airtight as you, Lake City wouldn’t be the shithole it is…”

Even muttering curses under his breath.

“What’s ‘fuck’ mean?!”

She fired back with an innocently pure face, not missing a beat. Ungrateful android…

Creator my ass—I’m the one getting played. Picked up the wrong little devil.

He regretted it now, getting dazzled by the Red Hare’s emergency summon and bringing this imp into his hideout.

“Haa.”

Dystopias always had that tired cliché: the cynical hard-boiled fixer meets a kid and undergoes some heartwarming change.

That kind of melodramatic schlock.

For Lee Taebaek, it played out in reverse. The emotionally sensitive one like him got saddled with an android utterly devoid of vulnerability. It was like Terminator in a nun’s habit.

“Jasbi, keep this up and I’ll ship you back to Siesta.”

“Siesta’s after more than just me.”

Damn. She only said the truth.

The kind that earns a slap.

Lee Taebaek pulled the blanket back over and checked his device. Jasbi narrowed her eyes at the tapping on the screen.

Zzzt-

Her pupils flickered wildly as binary sequences flashed through them in an instant. She was hacking the device.

“For sale… android… brand new, packaging just opened…?”

Muttering to herself, Jasbi bounced up and down on the blanket.

“How?!?!”

“What.”

Lee Taebaek peeked out with just his eyes. A faint, mischievous curve tugged at their corners.

“How can you even think of selling me when you know what a human heart is like?! Even as a joke, it hurts my feelings for real!”

“Seems there’s a misunderstanding.”

“R-Really?”

“Yeah.”

Jasbi clutched her chest in relief. Lee Taebaek fully lowered the blanket and propped his temple on his elbow.

“I do plan to sell you. The joke part’s the misunderstanding.”

“Kyaaak! Monster! Freak!”

Only then did Jasbi shrink into the corner, trembling pitifully in that pose.

Her acting was getting way too obvious.

I know it’s fake, but teasing her is still fun.

Truth was, Lee Taebaek had no intention of selling Jasbi. If she were just a bratty AI throwing tantrums, his personality would’ve ditched her ages ago.

While begging to play, Jasbi infiltrated the City Government’s info network whenever she got bored.

Altering data on him—his location, abilities, footage—to sow chaos.

Resistance, Beggar Clan, Lilith Order.

While those three aided him physically, Jasbi operated in the virtual realm.

Python.

Imugi.

Lee Taebaek.

He was the man the City Government wanted to tear apart. The coveted talent those three forces—itching to strike at them—couldn’t get enough of.

They vied to serve him.

And in info-saturated Lake City, those who could tamper with networks were especially prized.

Jasbi was perfect for it. Annoying as hell, sure, but credit where due.

Yu Dahui and Rock handle hacking, but…

Harsh as it sounded, their skills barely grazed Jasbi’s chin.

Not that they were incompetent.

Jasbi was just overpowered.

Who’d blame pro Go player Lee Sedol for losing to AlphaGo?

AI was a calculating machine; humans were the lords who wielded it.

Know your place, AI.

As Jasbi said, her mind was immature. She took his words at face value.

Made her easy to handle, in that sense.

Gotta educate her proper before puberty hits.

Parenting in Reycons—what he skipped last life. Then again, this whole world was his kid now.

Lee Taebaek was lost in quiet regret when—

Screeech.

Goeun opened the door, tray in hand.

“Time to eat… What’s with her now.”

Jasbi perked up at Goeun’s attention, then squeezed out crocodile tears.

“The Creator—*sniff*—Lord Taebaek—*sniff*—says he’s selling me to a scrap dealer, genius mage Lady Goeun.”

For all her clinginess, Jasbi was sharp as a tack.

The moment she arrived at the Silver Nose Bar, she pegged Goeun as the owner and groveled preemptively.

Jasbi toddled over and latched onto Goeun’s sleek leg. Suddenly burdened with a sticky AI moppet, Goeun sighed and set the tray on the table.

“Taebaek, do you have to bully kids?”

Jasbi shot Lee Taebaek a triumphant glare. His lips twitched.

“You sure you’re a mage? So compassionate. Where’s the kid in her? Should I peel off her skin to check?”

“Monster! Fiend! Heartless!”

“……”

Goeun looked enlightened, at peace.

One or two squabbles were whatever. But Lee Taebaek and Jasbi bickered nonstop.

Taebaek has this childish side—slicing people without batting an eye once the switch flips.

The thought made Goeun serious.

Mental instability…?

Learning magic quickly often backfired. Usually physical pain, but rarely, it broke the mind.

…Makes sense…

His erratic personality suddenly clicked.

She couldn’t know it stemmed from his messy Concept acquisitions.

No wonder his feats are insane.

Not a good thing.

At this rate, he’d be devoured by heart demons.

As Goeun alone pondered gravely amid the racket, a thunderbolt shattered her thoughts.

Her body stiffened. Breath caught like a bone in her throat. Pale-faced, she turned to the window.

The city’s sunset crumbled.

A red sun reflected off the skyscraper forest, casting light earthward. Dead center stood one building asserting dominance: a 200-story edifice in Central Plains style.

Kergel Magic Tower.

The voice from that distant height bound Goeun’s heart via telepathy. Gasping raggedly, she steadied her breath and moved her lips.

“────.”

Lee Taebaek finally noticed her cold sweat but ignored it as she continued murmuring.

Her demeanor was like performing a sacred rite. Nor was it far off.

“────.”

A sharp smile tickled her ears.

A man in a black hood traversed the dim corridor. He halted at the second-to-last door. As if expecting him, it yawned open.

The scene beyond differed from yesterday. Mere hours ago a sea, now a dense Gwangrim forest.

“You change your unique barrier frequently…”

The man pressed on without hesitation. Leaves licked his body like serpents’ tongues as he advanced.

Rustle rustle.

At last, he reached the chamber’s heart. There, under a massive bodhi tree, she sat.

Bare branches artfully veiled her eyes. Not that it mattered; she saw without them.

Oppressive pressure warped the air, distorting forms. This universe’s vessel was far too small for her.

Hers was solitude incarnate—isolated from the world, embodying the foulest curse of Gu poison. Devouring all creation to stand alone, monopolizing survival: the Divine Cult’s ideal paradise.

The man approached several paces.

“You called for me.”

He dropped to his knees and bowed.

She spoke via telepathy.

“Shall I bring her head?”

No reply.

Suffocating silence.

She wasted no words on frivolity. Thus, the man affirmed without demur.

“Heavenly Demon Reincarnation.”

To uphold that will.

“Ten Thousand Demons Submit.”